The Beatles' First Ever Recordings To Be Released As 'The Beatles With Tony Sheridan: First Recordings'

09/30/2011 01:57 pm ET
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Updated
Nov 30, 2011

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While The Beatles' first proper album was 1963's "Please Please Me," there was over a half decade of music from the boys from Liverpool that came before that world-changing record. Of course, some of it came as The Quarry Men, and then the Silver Beetles, and it was performed by fragments of what would become the famous Fab Four, but that only adds to the historical value.

The band, in fact, spend much of its early years in residency in Hamburg, Germany, a quintet that included an underaged George Harrison, John Lennon's childhood friend Pete Best and art school friend Stu Sutcliffe. Once they were narrowed down to a quartet -- Sutcliffe left the band and then soon after died -- they recorded sessions for Polydor, Best still on drums, in Hamburg. They played behind singer Tony Sheridan, with whom they performed in Germany, but a few tracks featured a young John Lennon on the mic.

Now, those tracks are being re-released, with Time Life issuing "The Beatles With Tony Sheridan: First Recordings," to be released November 8th. It'll also include vintage photos of the band during their wild early days.